15 Decades of Depictions of Uncle Sam

According to Wikipedia, “Uncle Sam is the national personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of the American government, with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812.” Our research found the first graphical depictions of Uncle Sam began appearing around 1860. In honor of the April 15th deadline to pay-up Big Brother, we thought it would be fun to take a look at how his image has been portrayed over the years:

1860s

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Cartoon from just after the start of the Civil War in the December 21, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly.

1870s

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Another cartoon from Harper’s Weekly, November 24, 1876 – addressing the Civil Service Reform Act.

1880s

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An “Irishman” confronts Uncle Sam in a lodging house for laborers. Uncle Sam responds, “Look here, you, everybody else is quiet and peaceable, and you’re all the time a-kicking up a row!”

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

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Lots of images were floating around during the election and still today, depicting President Obama as Uncle Sam.

In nearly all of these, the undertones of social commentary resound the political atmosphere of the time… but above all, you can glean the American distaste for having to cough up their hard-earned dough. Happy Tax Day!

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